This invention relates generally to safety apparatus and more particularly to a safety harness arranged to be worn by a person for suspending a conventional tool belt or lineman's belt therefrom.
As a result of the enactment of various safety laws persons working at elevated height positions, e.g., window washers, telephone lineman, etc., are required to be protected against falls. One common approach to achieve that end is the use of a safety belt which is worn on the worker's waist. The belt is arranged to be worn about the waist of the workman and includes a D-ring or some other metal loop fixedly mounted on the belt in the center of the portion located at the worker's back. The D-ring is arranged to be "tied off" i.e., connected, via a lanyard or some other means, to a supporting member, e.g., a portion of a building or other static structure, a rope grab device mounted on a safety line, etc. Thus, once the worker is tied off should he/she fall off of the platform, scaffolding, or other support on which he/she is working or if that platform etc. itself drops or otherwise falls away, the worker will be prevented from falling to the ground.
While such safety belts are generally suitable for their intended purposes they are not designed to act as a primary means for suspending the person at an elevated position to enable him/her to perform some activity while so suspended. In fact such safety belts are generally incapable of such use since they tend to inhibit the person's mobility, thus interfering with the worker's ability to function efficiently when he/she is tied off.
Harnesses have been developed and sold to serve as a means to distribute the shock load across portions of the body of the wearer for fall protection purposes. Examples of such harness are those disclosed and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,884, and which is commercially available from Descent Control, Inc. of Fort Smith, Ak. That harness include straps or loops which are arranged to encircle the wearer's thighs, a belt or some other portion to encircle the wearer's waist, and straps extending over the wearer's shoulders.
Many workers utilize safety harnesses along with a tool belt, e.g., a "lineman's" belt, with the harness serving to provide fall protection, and with the belt used to carry tools or to aid in climbing or for positioning purposes when used with a lanyard to encircle the pole or other structure being climbed. To achieve positioning the belt is commonly slipped down over the workers hips so that it extends across the worker's buttocks, thereby acting as a seat for the worker. When positioning is no longer necessary the worker then slips the belt up to its normal position about the waist. Since such belts are frequently quite heavy the action is moving the belt from one position about the workers waist to another position about the worker's buttocks, and vice versa can be difficult to achieve, especially if the worker is at an elevated position, e.g., on a telephone pole. Thus, a need exists for a harness means for suspending a conventional tool belt or lineman's climbing belt therefrom to enable the belt to be readily adjusted to either the normal about-the-waist position or to an about-the-buttocks positioning position.
Suspenders have been commercially available for use with a tool belt to suspend it therefrom and thereby ease the weight of the belt on the worker. One such pair of suspender is that offered by Bashlin Industries, Inc. of Grove City Pa. under the trade designation "SAM BROWN SUSPENDERS" (Catalog 980-1, page 13, No. 80). That same company also offers a harness under the trade designation "THE `ONE` LINEMEN'S HARNESS" (Catalog 980-1, page 12, No. 688NWD). As disclosed in that catalog the harness is a full body harness that attaches to a specific type of line belt, namely, a standard or semi floating shifting "D" linemen's belt. To that end, the front or chest straps of the harness include loops at their lower ends through which the front of the lineman's belt is threaded. The back straps of the lineman's belt extend through spaces between portions of the lineman's belt and are secured to the harnesses leg straps. While this harness may be suitable to suspend the front of the tool belt, its construction does not allow supporting the rear of the tool belt. Moreover, adjustment of the chest straps will not raise or lower all portions of the lineman's belt, only the front thereof. Further still, in the interests of safety the harness cannot be used safely with linemen's belts other than the standard or semi-floating shifting "D" linemen's belts, thereby limiting its use.
Thus, a need exists for a harness which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.